Greatest equestrian counties Find out how your area fared in our 2018 study
The West Country jewel reclaims its 2003 title as Britain’s horsiest county, having lost out to Gloucestershire in our 2010 study. Find out how your county fared
THE tale of Mary King learning to ride on the vicar of Salcombe Regis’ hairy piebald cob Magpie as a child, cycling to rallies with the Axe Vale branch of the Pony Club and attempting to school a donkey in her desperate quest to be in the saddle is a wellpenned one. Six Olympic Games later and you would excuse the multi-medalled eventer for having moved somewhere a little more central, a little closer to the country’s biggest horse trials, and perhaps somewhere just a little less laid-back. But the lure of Devon, which tops our chart as Britain’s horsiest county for 2018, has not diminished for her. “It’s an amazing county,” she says. “It has two beautiful moors, Dartmoor and part of Exmoor, and two incredible coastlines — the north coast, with flatter beaches you can ride on, and the south coast, with steep cliffs and sea that goes deeper much more quickly.”
Mary lives on the south-eastern coast, which has plenty of rides through woodland and out onto the cliffs — “There’s a valley that runs down to the sea, so, from my yard, you can go up and down 600 feet within half an hour.”
Inland, the riding is flatter and you can chance upon a crop of “beautiful little villages” with thatched houses.
“The village I live in has a beautiful Saxon church and there’s a pub in the next village, where you can tie your horse up and sit at a picnic table for a ploughman’s lunch,” she says.
Equally valuable for Mary, though, is access to the great facilities at Bicton Arena, in East Budleigh, about eight miles from her house — “a well-run equestrian arena, where they have lots of different types of competitions all through the year and possibilities to go
showjumping and cross-country schooling”.
Travelling to venues elsewhere in the UK is also relatively easy. Devon’s bigger roads have improved in the past few years and, once you are on the M5 or the A303, you can get anywhere pretty swiftly.
But the county’s greatest draw is perhaps its warm, welcoming feel. “There are lots of people who just enjoy hacking, enjoy the scenery and enjoy owning a horse. The Pony Club branches are full, there are lots of active riding clubs and hunting is well supported.”
Farmers are kind to riders and often allow horses on their land, even where there aren’t specific bridleways.
“As a child growing up, we used to help the farmer with the haymaking and the
combining and, in exchange, he used to let me ride my ponies around the field,” recalls Mary. Thankfully, this spirit of solidarity hasn’t changed over time: “It’s a friendly community, the villages have real hearts to them.”
And, of course, Devon is not alone in its appeal for horse owners. Look at any of the counties topping our study and you’ll quickly discover the magic ingredients that turn a stretch of British countryside into the perfect home for equestrian people: miles of peaceful hacking through thick woodland, soft golden beaches or wildflower meadows; pretty villages full of horse-friendly farmers; great local hunts and equestrian centres with a packed calendar of shows — and great pubs where you can meet other riders for a pint and a chat.
HEAD further east to Hampshire, and for Alresford-based showing producer Sam Roberts it is the combination of the “peace and beauty of the countryside” combined with the desirable travel connections to competition venues that give her home county the X-factor.
“The equestrian community is hugely supportive, with the likes of the Hampshire Horsewatch providing support for the equestrian community,” she says. “And the hacking across the New Forest is phenomenal. There are not many places in Britain where you can ride through forest with wild ponies running alongside you. There is also access to the South Downs National Park, as well as miles of rolling countryside interlinked with bridlepaths and byways.
“Getting to competitions is quick and easy — I can get to the Suffolk Show or the Devon County Show in the same time, literally one side of the country to the other,” she adds.
Facilities abound in the county with Wellington Riding, Crofton Manor and Sparsholt College. And keep your eyes peeled for equestrian-celeb spotting: Olympians
Peter Charles and Jennie Loriston-Clarke call it home and there’s a host of up-and-coming stars in Matt Hicks, Alice Oppenheimer, James Burtwell, Stephen Way and Charlotte Dicker.
Back in the West Country, Somerset-based showjumper Harriet Nuttall is won over by the countryside studded with pretty little villages, hills for cantering and valleys that are great for summer riding.